Book: Elixer

Book: Elixer (2010)
Author: Hilary Duff (co-writer Elise Allen)
Sequels: Devoted (2011), True (2012)

Rating: 1.5 stars
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Blurb:

Clea Raymond has felt the glare of the spotlight her entire life. The daughter of a renowned surgeon and a prominent Washington DC politician, she has grown to be a talented photojournalist who takes refuge in a career that allows her to travel to the most exotic parts of the world. But after Clea’s father disappears while on a humanitarian mission, Clea’s photos begin to feature eerie, shadowy images of a strange and beautiful man—a man she has never seen before. 
When fate brings Clea and this man together, she is stunned by the immediate and powerful connection she feels with him. As they grow closer, they are drawn deep into the mystery behind her father’s disappearance, and they discover the centuries old truth behind their intense bond. Torn by a dangerous love triangle and haunted by a powerful secret that holds their fates, together they race against time to unravel their pasts in order to save their lives—and their futures.

My Opinion: 
*WARNING...I HAVE RANTED*

I've heard people diss this book and read it today in hopes of saying "Look, you guys, you are way to judgmental." Bad sadly, they have proven me wrong. This book is written by a celebrity Hilary Duff in fact. I remember being barely 6-7 years old and watching Lizzie Maguire. Safe to say, I'm a huge fan of hers and even when the show was over (the ending movie was amazing *.*) I continued following her music and movies. So when I heard she wrote a book, all I could say was "Yay!!!!"
Now I sit here, having finished the book within a matter of 3 hours (yes it was that small) and simple have one question:  

This book is nowhere near making it into my recommended list anytime soon. The book starts of with Clea and Rayna in a nightclub in Paris. Apparently, these two seventeen year old's were on a three week Europe tour...alone. From there itself you find the character building to be bland. You can never relate to any of the characters since they haven't been built up properly, they have no depth or 3-D quality that makes you connect with them.
After the Paris trip, we are flown back to Connecticut where Clea finds a mysterious guy appearing in most of the photos shes taken on the trip. She becomes paranoid and a little interest is created as the readers wonder about mystery guy. Which is when we are introduced to Ben-her other best friend who is (kind of obviously) in love with her. Now to add on another character: Her mother, the senator who doesn't mind letting her 17 year old fly around the world with only 1 guy as her companion.
Then we are taken to the carnival in Rio which is where she meets Mystery Guy  and his name is....SAGE!(go ahead and laugh...I did). Turns out he's a 500 year old guy who is 'accidentally' immortal. And to add to the plot, he is her soul-mate.
This is where lines start blurring. The story takes a twist from being about her dad to all about Sage and Clea. And their romance is one to read about (not in the good sense) within the time period of a week, she goes from thinking of him as a Stalker to a Serial Killer to her Soul-Mate. Once he is her Soul-mate, she is so obsessive about him that they end up having s-x in the passenger seat of Rayna's car (and creepy enough, he already had protection.) The plot line just goes down from there.

Ideal For:
Please save yourself the trouble and don't read this. Unless you liked a book like Evermore...in which case this is perfect for you. If you are into cliche lines, plots and characters with little personality development or a book that takes you to approximately 4 cities without describing each properly, then you will enjoy this book. Over all, I found the plot line torturing, characters bland, the story way to fast-paced, and grammar and word usage inadequate.

Book: Under The Dome

Book: Under The Dome
Author Name: Stephen King



* Has multiple covers*

The Blurb:
It is the very small town of Chester's Mill, Maine, which is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. No-one can get in and no-one can get out
When food, water and electricity run short, the normal rules of society have changed. As a new and more sinister social order develops, Dale Barbara, a young Iraq veteran, teams up with a handful of intrepid citizens to fight against the corruption that is sweeping through the town and to try and discover the source of the Dome before its too late...

My Opinion
I was apprehensive reading this because I heard that Stephan King wrote mostly scary stories...or rather Sci-Fi to the extreme. However, by the time I reached the 2-3rd chapter of this book, I was so into it I couldn't put it down (and consequently got yelled at by most of my teachers). Stephen King is one of the bestselling writers in the world and this book told me why. Each character in the story has their own personality and characteristics that is brought out beautifully. The story twists and turns weaving in and out of itself without managing to confuse the readers, while at the same time, it manages to keep the reader at the age of their seat. As is expected from a Stephen King book, the language is used is beautiful and the vocabulary-impeccable. There are times when I read certain stories and find myself saying "Oh, maybe this word would have suited the story more." yet in this book, I found myself so enthralled I was gobbling it up...in fact, I managed to finish this 877 page book in approximately one day.

Ideal For:
Not exactly a gender specific book, however, one thing that might weed out a couple people is the patience needed to read this book. Although words aren't difficult, and the language isn't tough to comprehend, the book is a colossal 877 pages long. This book is not meant for those who want to read as a form of passing time in between meetings or on a train journey. This book is more like a weekend getaway for fast readers and a Long weekend book to those who read slightly slower. People who read this book have to be comfortable with slight mature content. There is graphic violence described as well as different sexual tendencies that are touched upon. So if you don't think you can handle a little intimacy (the unusual kind) and violence as well as death, then I wouldn't touch this book. However, for those with no qualms about a little mature content, this book definitely makes my top recommended list.

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